Ground Surge: Communities Rising Opening Reception

Ground Surge: Communities Rising, an exhibition of photojournalist and advocate Syd London’s gritty documentary works, will premier at the Human Rights Institute Gallery at Kean University from Jan. 25 through March 25, 2016. The photos reveal harsh realities as communities and individuals fight against

generations of repression to heal and reclaim their inherent human rights.

An opening reception with the artist and special guests will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. at the Human Rights Institute Gallery on Kean University’s Union NJ campus.

"Ground Surge takes viewers into the communities, homes and streets where people are resisting an intricate intersection of a lack of health-care access and discrimination on the basis of race, class, ability, sexual orientation and age," said the New York-based London who has been photo-documenting today’s grassroots freedom fighters in the United States for more than a decade. "Each part of the series exposes the experiences of stigmatization, the search for healing, and the fierce, never-ending fight for real freedom in America."

"The Ground Surge: Communities Rising exhibition and related programs bring these examples of injustice to where they need to be––the forefront­ of critical human rights discourse," said Kean University President Dr. Dawood Farahi. "Through support of and collaboration with these initiatives, the Human Rights Institute reaffirms its commitment to equality and continues to call all persons to teach, to learn and to act on behalf of justice for all."

The gallery, opening reception and all related events are free, open to the community and wheelchair accessible.